Pastoral Care
Overview
The Pastoral Care module is where your church's shepherding work happens. It brings together prayer requests, counselling appointments, follow-up tasks, member feedback, pastor availability, and visit logs — all in one place so no one falls through the cracks.
Go to Pastoral Care in the sidebar to access it.
📸 [Screenshot: Pastoral Care main page showing all 8 tabs]
The 8 Tabs
| Tab | What It's For |
|---|---|
| 🙏 Prayer | Manage member prayer requests |
| 📅 Appointments | Track counselling and pastoral meetings |
| ✅ Tasks | Follow-up action items for your team |
| ⭐ Feedback | Service feedback from members |
| 🕐 Availability | Your pastor's available appointment slots |
| 🏠 Visits | Log pastoral visits and manage member visit requests |
| 💛 Care Cases | Bereavement & crisis care journeys with automated follow-ups |
| 📊 Analytics | Pastoral care metrics |
1. Prayer Requests
Members submit prayer requests via WhatsApp (PRAY command) or staff adds them in the dashboard.
Prayer Request Statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Open | Newly submitted, not yet attended to |
| Praying | The pastoral team is actively praying |
| Answered | The prayer has been answered 🎉 |
| Closed | Request closed without a specific answer |
Updating Prayer Status
- Find the prayer request
- Click Mark as Praying or Mark as Answered
- Shepherd automatically sends a WhatsApp notification to the member in their preferred language:
- Praying: "Hi [Name], our pastoral team is praying for your request. God hears you! 🙏"
- Answered: "We're rejoicing with you! Your prayer request has been marked as answered! 🎉"
Assigning a Prayer Request
- Click Assign on the prayer request card
- Search and select a staff member
- They receive a WhatsApp notification immediately
Privacy note: For anonymous requests, the WhatsApp notification says "A member has submitted a confidential prayer request" — the actual text is never revealed.
Broadcasting a Prayer Request
If a member allowed their request to be shared:
- Open the prayer request → click 📢 Share with Church
- Shepherd broadcasts it to all members via WhatsApp
- The broadcast appears in Messages → Broadcasts with a 🙏 amber badge — read-only
📸 [Screenshot: Prayer tab showing request cards with status badges and assign button]
2. Appointments
Members can request pastoral appointments via WhatsApp (BOOK command) or staff can create them manually.
Appointment Types
Counselling, Prayer Session, New Member Orientation, Financial Counselling, Pre-marital Counselling, Visitation, General Meeting, Other
Appointment Statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | Requested, not yet confirmed |
| Confirmed | Pastor has confirmed the appointment |
| Completed | The meeting took place |
| Cancelled | Appointment was cancelled |
Confirming an Appointment
- Go to Pastoral Care → Appointments
- Find the pending appointment → click Confirm
- Optionally set a date and time
- Shepherd sends a personalised WhatsApp to the member, signed with the pastor's first name
Tip: The confirmation uses "I" (first person) and the pastor's name — much more personal than a generic team reply.
3. Follow-Up Tasks
Tasks are action items for your pastoral team. They can be created manually or auto-generated by Journey stage templates.
Creating a Task
From any prayer request, appointment, or visit card:
- Click + Add Task
- Fill in title, assignee, due date, and optional notes
- Click Create Task
The assigned staff member receives a WhatsApp notification immediately with the member's name, phone number, and a direct WhatsApp link.
Task Statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | Not yet done |
| Overdue | Past due date, shown in red |
| Completed | Done ✅ |
Tasks due today are highlighted in amber. Completing a task sends a WhatsApp notification to the creator.
4. Feedback
Members submit service feedback via WhatsApp (FEEDBACK command). The Feedback tab shows:
- Average rating (1–5 stars)
- Category breakdown (Sermon / Worship / Welcome / General)
- Recent feedback list with comments, ratings, member names, and dates
5. Availability (Pastor's Schedule)
Configure when your pastor is available for appointments — used by the WhatsApp BOOK command.
- Go to Pastoral Care → Availability
- Click + Add Slot
- Set Day of Week, Start Time, End Time
- Save
Each slot can be toggled on/off temporarily (e.g. when the pastor is away).
6. Pastoral Visits
The Visits tab tracks all pastoral visits — home visits, hospital visits, bereavements, outreach, and more. It also surfaces member-requested visits from WhatsApp.
Logging a Visit
- Go to Pastoral Care → Visits → + Log a Visit
- Fill in: Member, Visited By, Visit Type, Date, Location (optional), Notes
- Optionally tick "Create a follow-up task" to create a task in the same action
- Click Log Visit
Member-Requested Visits
When a member sends VISIT via WhatsApp, the request is logged with a 🙋 Requested badge. Your team is notified via WhatsApp.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 🙋 Requested | Member asked for a visit — not yet assigned |
| ✅ Assigned | A staff member has been assigned |
| (no badge) | Visit completed and logged |
Visit Types
🏠 Home · 🏥 Hospital · 💜 Bereavement · 🌍 Outreach · 📋 Other
📸 [Screenshot: Visits tab showing requested visits with amber badges and assigned visits]
7. Bereavement & Crisis Care
The Care Cases tab tracks members going through bereavement, crisis, hospitalisation, or serious situations — with an automated 4-milestone care journey.
Flagging a Member for Care
From the member's profile:
- Click 💛 Flag for Care
- Select care type: Bereavement / Crisis / Hospitalisation / Family Crisis / Mental Health / General Care
- Add optional notes → click Flag & Notify Team
Shepherd immediately sends a WhatsApp alert to all pastoral staff with the member's name, phone number, a one-tap WhatsApp link, and a link to their profile.
The Automated Care Journey
| Milestone | When | Who Receives It |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 — Team notified | Immediately | All pastoral staff |
| Day 3 — Follow-up reminder | 3 days after flagging | All pastoral staff |
| Day 7 — Member check-in | 7 days after flagging | The member directly |
| Day 30 — Close-out prompt | 30 days after flagging | All pastoral staff |
The Day 7 message goes to the member's WhatsApp in their language — a warm personal check-in.
Closing a Care Case
Open the care case card → click Close Case. A member cannot be flagged again until their current case is closed.
📸 [Screenshot: Care Cases tab showing active cases with day counter and milestone progress]
8. Pastoral Care Analytics
The Analytics tab gives leadership a bird's-eye view of pastoral health:
- Prayer: Total requests, open/answered/closed counts, response rate, category breakdown, 6-month trend
- Appointments: Completion rate, type breakdown, monthly trend
- Tasks: Completion rate, overdue count, top assignees leaderboard
- Care Cases: Active vs. closed counts, care type breakdown, average days to closure
Permissions
| Action | Required Role |
|---|---|
| View prayer requests & appointments | Pastor, Admin, Super Admin |
| Update prayer status | Pastor, Admin, Super Admin |
| Manage appointments | Pastor, Admin, Super Admin |
| View feedback | Admin, Super Admin |
| Manage availability | Pastor, Admin, Super Admin |
Tips
- ✅ Check the Tasks tab daily — it's your team's to-do list
- ✅ Mark prayers as "Praying" quickly — it sends a warm WhatsApp to the member immediately
- ✅ Set availability slots before going live with WhatsApp booking
- ✅ Use Care Notes for sensitive conversations — not the regular member Notes field